Steam Engines, Butter Churns and an Outhouse Dash: The Farmers and Threshermens Jubilee Returns
New Centerville's Farmers and Threshermens Jubilee runs September 9-13, 2026 with steam engines, tractor pulls, a quilt show, a parade and plenty of good food.
If you have never watched a dog-powered butter churn do its thing or cheered a contestant across the finish line of an Outhouse Dash, clear your calendar. The Farmers and Threshermens Jubilee is back at New Centerville, September 9 through 13, 2026, and it is five full days of the kind of old-fashioned, engine-rumbling fun that this corner of Somerset County does better than just about anybody.
The Jubilee has long been known as the festival with the steam engines, and they do not disappoint. Antique tractors, steam-powered threshers and all manner of vintage farm equipment come to life across the grounds, chugging and hissing the way they did when this valley ran on horsepower you could actually hear. If loud, mechanical and gloriously old-school is your thing, you are home.
Then there are the pulls. Tractor, ATV, truck and semi-truck pulling contests run throughout the week, and yes, there is even a horse pulling contest for the purists. The Grand Jubilee parade is the centerpiece, and right after it comes the Outhouse Dash Race, which is exactly as ridiculous and wonderful as it sounds.
Not everything roars. There is a quilt show, a craft display, stage entertainment all week, and enough good food to make the walk back to your car a slow one. It is a family event top to bottom, the sort of place where the kids chase demonstrations around while the grandparents point out the machine they used to run.
The Jubilee is held on the grounds of the New Centerville Rural Volunteer Fire Company, at 3054 Kingwood Road, Rockwood, along Route 281 about nine miles south of Somerset. It runs Wednesday through Sunday following Labor Day. For details, call 814-926-3142 or visit ncrvfc.org.
So who is up for steam engines and funnel cake? Mark September 9 to 13 and come see why this fall tradition keeps the whole mountain coming back.